25 Nov 2021

Women and Sport Botswana (WASBO) will tomorrow drill journalists on gender sensitive reporting.

WASBO spokesperson, Thulaganyo Retshabile, said in an interview that the workshop was a strategic initiative deliverable derived from the IWG Big 5 legacy priorities. 

The IWG Big 5 legacy entails the buffalo, lion, elephant, leopard and rhino. 

She said they were embarking on the rhino, which called for cooperation with the media and use of social media to increase coverage of women’s sports and portray women without using limitation stereotypes.

Retshabile said to carry out the initiative, WASBO decided to conduct the workshop to create a conducive environment for participation of women and girls in sport in Botswana.

The media, she said, played a key role in modeling public attitudes and perception about women and men, thus becoming an important partner in attraction and retention of women and girls sport.

She said gender sensitive reporting promoted fair gender portrayal as professional and ethical conduct, which contributed to a more gender balanced and inclusive society.

She said from the workshop with the media last year, they had realised that to the media it was ‘beauty first’, adding that attention was on the outward appearance of the female athlete, rather than their performance.

Retshabile said during the Botswana Football Association elections last year, they received a lot of comments on the appearance of one of the candidates, which were centering on her performance.

Furthermore, she said women were still expected to conform to the masculine definition and image of a male sportsperson.

She said the objective of the workshop was to contribute to a more diverse and gender sensitive equipped media and society as well as promoting exchange of ideas, experiences between the media and WASBO.

She said the session would also give athletes an opportunity to engage and have conversation with the media.

Retshabile said WASBO recognised the media as an important stakeholder in helping deliver the mandate of advocacy, guidance and influence in the creation of a conclusive environment for participation of women and girls in sport in Botswana.

Furthermore, she said the media played a key role in modeling public attitudes and perceptions about women and men, thus becoming an important partner in the area of attraction and retention of women and girls sport. ends